Question

‘From 1772, a new system of justice was established by Warren Hastings’. Explain the
statement with four examples.

Answer 1

Answer:

Anglo-Hindu law refers to the laws enacted during the British colonial era, which applied to the Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs of British India.

The first phase of Anglo-Hindu law started in 1772, and lasted till 1864, where translation of some ancient Indian texts along with textual interpretation provided by British court appointed Hindu Pandits were the basis of Anglo-Hindu law, mirroring Anglo-Muslim law extracted from Quran and interpreted by Muslim Qadis for Indian Muslims. The second phase of Anglo-Hindu law started in 1864, and ended in 1947, during which a written legal code was adopted, and the Hindu Pandits along with Muslim Qadis were dismissed due to growing inconsistencies in interpretation of texts and suspicions of corruption. Anglo-Hindu law was expanded with a series of British parliament Acts between 1828 and 1947, that was based on political consensus rather than religious texts.